Marina Durunda and Zhala Piriyeva leaders of first day of rhythmic gymnastics competitions at Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku

12 May 2017 in 14:30

Azerbaijani rhythmic gymnasts Marina Durunda and Zhala Piriyeva have reached the finals of the 4th Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku in women’s hoop and ball qualification events.

In the exercises with a hoop, Marina Durunda scored 16.750 points, and Zhala Piriyeva scored 16.300 points. In the exercises with a ball, Durunda scored 16.200 points, while Piriyeva scored 16 points. The third and fourth place was taken by the Uzbek gymnasts - Anastasia Serdyukova (16.300) and Sabina Tashkenbaeva (14.850).

In the exercises with a ball, Marina Durunda scored 16.200 points, and Zhala Piriyeva scored 16.000 points. The third and fourth place was taken by the Uzbek gymnasts - Anastasia Serdyukova (15.950) and Nurinso Usmanova (15.000).

Azerbaijani gymnast Marina Durunda, admitted, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, that she was overwhelmed with emotions today. "It's up to the audience whether I managed to convey the mood of my routine, but I think that I can put more soul into it. I usually perform very emotionally, but today I tried to limit my impulse," she noted, adding that the first performance at the Islamic Solidarity Games was exciting.

The gymnast also supported her friends in the national team of Azerbaijan. "I'm proud of Zohra Aghamirova, she's only 15 years old, she never competed at competitions of such a scale, but today she performed with dignity. Of course, I'm very worried about Zohra and Zhala Piriyeva. It's good that they coped with the first exercises. I really hope that we will win the team medal, because they deserve the best," she concluded.

Zhala Piriyeva said that it is a high responsibility for her, since the competitions are being held in her native city. "Since these are the first Islamic Solidarity Games for gymnastics, of course, we are going down in history, which means that we want it to be successful," she said.

In this regard, Zhala Piriyeva intends to get into all four finals and show her best, so that the Azerbaijani team had the highest chances of taking team gold in the rhythmic gymnastics. "I hope that Marina Durunda and Zohra Aghamirova will succeed and we will win this golden medal," the Azerbaijani gymnast concluded.